Prague Tansportation

Wow, what a negative attitude! You've never been to eastern Europe, and yet you know that at least some of the taxi drivers are "crooked" and want to know how to control or avoid them? I guess you could contact your hotel and ask them what the fare should be from the station to the hotel, but what happens if they try to charge you something different? Are you prepared to argue with the driver in Czech?

Eastern Europe is quite 'Western' these days so all you need to do is do the usual preparation as the previous poster stated and ask your hotel what the fare should be and negotiate with the driver when you arrive.

Have a good trip. Prague is beautiful and quite safe if you take the usual precautions in a big city.

The way around this is to ask your hotel to send a taxi for you. Ask the hotel what the cost will be and that is what you will be charged.

BTW - I've been to Prague on many occasions and I've been going for past 15 years. SOME Prague taxi drivers do have a nasty habit of overcharging the unwary and gullible.

So do some of the resturants.

Until the bad floods of about six years ago Prague was as honest a city as you could find ( except for the area around the sex park ). Now it's far more cynical and greedy than it ever was before.

As for the prices in the new Terminal 2 at the airport - don't get me started !!!

Or, you could walk from the train station, provided you pack light. Although Prague is a rather large city, the areas of interest to tourists do not cover a particularly large area.

Actually I recall reading that several years ago a taxi driver in Prague tried to overcharge the President! He was furious but I believe the result was that there are now some price controls. Rick even mentioned it in the 2003 or 2004 Eastern Europe book so we arranged for the hotel shuttle. We stayed at the Hotel Julian which we really enjoyed but we wished we had stayed closer to "town". Had an outstanding tour with Sarka Pelantova, wonderful, informative and a fun person to be around!
We also stayed 2 nights in Cesky Krumlov, another highlight of our trip...highly recommend it.

We basically "shopped" among the cab drivers in Prague. A driver at the train station was going to charge us an exorbitant fee for the distance we were going, so when another taxi driver heard what happened, he came over and gave us a better deal. Like someone else said, ask someone at your hotel how much is reasonable for where you're going...

When I have more time, I will tell you my positive experiences with Prague taxi drivers. One of the reasons I had such a positive experience with taxi drivers is because I read Rick Steve's Prague book.
I can't praise his book enough. PLEASE buy and bring Rick's Prague book on your trip. He does warn about taxi drivers, and thanks to Rick, my trip to Prague, and a woman traveling solo went very smoothly!
More later.

Okay, here is my story. I tore out the most important pages from Rick Steves Prague book, and highlighted with a highlight pen the most important parts.
I understand why Van is concerned about taxi drivers in Prague. Rick talks much about this in his book.
I can't remember right off what Rick says about the most you should pay for a taxi. 100 crowns maybe. But I did highlight that part. Rick says to be the most careful with the taxi drivers in front of the train station. The weather was very cold and rainy when in Prague and really wanted to take a taxi, so I came up with my own idea. There was an elderly taxi driver that spoke good enough English. I showed him in Rick's book when he says not to pay anymore than 100 crowns. The driver was interested in Rick's book and read my highlights. He said okay, 100 crowns it is. Again, maybe it wasn't 100 crowns since I can't really remember right off the bat. This was in Rick's 2005 or 2006 book so it can be higher now. He gave me that one flat fee so I didn't have to worry about the price going up. This driver was so nice! It was a cold rainy day, and many people needed a taxi, and he could have charged so much more! He drove me to my downtown hotel. After my trip and taking a taxi back to the train station, I did the same thing showing Rick's book and it worked! It helps I had taxi drivers that speak English! Just lucky I guess.
Have a wonderful safe trip!!

I haven't read all of Rick Steves guide books, so I don't know if he warns about taxi drivers in every book, but he sure warns you about Prague!
But so true what Debi said. All countries have drivers that will rip you off. I don't know how many times here in the USA they try to charge too much. So yes, education and common sense is the key.

You know a few of the responders on this site are really harsh with their answers! I know exactly who they will be when I read one of their posts! There is way of saying things where one doesn't feel attacked. We all come to travel with different life experiences that may make us feel vulnerable to being taken advantage of. Some feel a glass is half empty, rather than full! Everyone handles traveling differently. I am a more trusting person but try and educate myself.

Now for the topic: Taxi drivers can rip you off in any country, had one try and do that to me in Rome.
Be prepared by finding out what the cost should be to your destination. Then you can decide if you want to take that taxi or choose another. Generally, when the taxi driver is aware that you are educated as for the fare that should be charged, they will back off.

Happy travels!!!

Spent 6 days in Prague this July. I had great experiences with the Taxis, asked them how much first and it was pretty much dead on. If you're that worried, use the subway! It's great, and is quite modern.

Rick Steves very much states that there is a problem with Prague taxi drivers in his Prague book - so there is no reason to attack Van for asking about this. I only used a taxi once, to get to the airport, and I set it up through the hotel since it was so early in the morning. I would suggest setting up a taxi with your hotel, asking the price before you leave for your destination, and/or making sure the meter is running properly.

Any time I plan to travel in a foreign city I research that citys website to see if there is public transportation between my two points. I have had to take a taxi only once in 15 years of travel.

I like to visit the Tourist Information Office in the RR station to ask for advice on the best way to get to my hotel. Surprising how much better the info from that office is.

I usually take the subway, train or bus where I want to go. It is easy and far more economical. And it seldom takes more time than a taxi. Why waste your money or try to avoid cheating drivers. Take the bus in Prague.

Sometimes the walk from the RR station to my hotel is short and I take it. Doing that also gives me an idea of what is available near my hotel.